Ricki and The Flash - Unfinished business
by Dynamoheart
Summary: After going back to her life as a rockstar bordering on the line of bankruptcy, Ricki spies a familiar face in the audience of one of her gigs at the Salt Well club. After confronting him will Ricki realise that they perhaps still have some unfinished business?
1. Chapter 1

"I'm Ricki Rendazzo and I'd like to introduce my band, The Flash" Ricki stood on the 'famous' Salt Well Bar stage, the old bar had been her first port of call after returning from Indianapolis. "Tonight we're going to play a few classics before rounding it up around nine with the famous Tom petty and the heartbreakers" she continued, giving Greg a quick wink when their eyes latched. "But first..." Ricki bit her lip as she turned her head to Greg.

"Hmm" Greg snapped out of his daze and grabbed hold of the microphone in front of him.

"The next song" With a swift roll of her eyes, Ricki turned back to her microphone with a smile.

"Oh" Greg sighed as he pinched his nose "Edgar Winter, Keep playing that Rock and Roll"

"Don't let your mind wonder, Greg, it's far too small to be out by itself " Ricki muttered between her teeth.

Greg didn't get the time to questions her, Ricki knew what was coming and quickly began playing the intro meaning that Greg could only exchange a quick angry look.

Don't you know that I was sittin' back in Texas

I was playin' those rhythm and blues

And then I got a big offer

For more money than I could refuse

I had my chance to make it

Playin' anythin' I wanted to play

But way back in my mind

You know I could hear the people say

Ricki played her guitar as she scanned the audience for any new members. The Salt Well club had become a big part of her life. It was her job and so was being a supermarket checkout girl but the Salt Well club was different. Ricki played at the Club because it was a group of her 'family' and friends, it felt more like home than Indianapolis ever would. Without the club Ricki would simply be an ordinary rockstar trying to make it big in America, she would be traveling alone with not so much as a goldfish to keep her company.

Ricki owed a lot to the Salt Well club, she had met The Flash, Daniel and of course Greg there along with many other people that she would most certainly remain friends with for the rest of her life.

Keep playin' that rock 'n' roll

Keep doin' what you been told

Save your money up for when you get old

Got to keep playin' that rock 'n' roll

So I packed up and I made it up to New York

Where my brother was a great big star

He was doin' funky music, yeah

Singin' and playin' guitar

Johnny was makin' the big time

Everything was goin' his way

But way back in my mind

You know I could hear the people say

Keep playin' that rock 'n' roll

Keep doin' what you been told

Save your money up for when you get old

Got to keep playin' that rock 'n' roll

Ricki put on her best fake smile as she sang into the microphone. It was a Saturday night, their busiest night of the week. Stealing a side glance from Greg, Ricki knew that there was something wrong, she couldn't quite put her finger on it but there was definitely something not right. Ricki quickly gave Greg a small frown before she turned her face back to the microphone.

Don't you know that I've been doin' lots of thinkin'

I've been tryin' hard to figure it out

But there's a certain kind of music, yeah

Got to make you jump and shout

Naturally snapping out of her daze, Ricki decided to do her best and push her problems with Greg to the back of her head and concentrate on pleasing the crowd. More audience members meant more money coming in which meant that the small bar could keep on pleasing and serving the small community.

Ricki's eyes stopped and narrowed at a figure in the crowd. Blinking a few times, Ricki let her fingers hardly strum the guitar as if it was going to suddenly wake her up from her 'dream'. But no, sadly life isn't that simple. You couldn't just close your eyes when something bad happened, life doesn't work like that.

Now you could call it commercial

If you wanna see it that way

But way back in my mind

You know I could hear the people say

Keep playin' that rock 'n' roll

Keep doin' what you been told

Save your money up for when you get old

Got to keep playin' that rock 'n' roll

Ricki kept on singing after the familiar figure seemed to disappear. She cleared her throat and sang the lyrics that now came naturally to her, it's only when she looked over at the bar that she saw the same person ordering a drink from Daniel.

Pete. It couldn't be? Could it?

Ricki stared that intensity that she neared missed her next line but by the time she had realised and looked back over he was gone and so was any sign of his insistence.

Oh, you got to keep on playin'

(You got to keep on playin')

Oh, you got to keep on playin'

(Oh, keep on playin')

Oh, you got to keep on playin'

(You got to keep on playin')

Got to keep playin' that rock 'n' roll

Keep playin' that rock 'n' roll

Keep doin' what you been told

Save your money up for when you get old

Got to keep playin' that rock 'n' roll

Rock 'n' roll, rock 'n' roll to satisfy my soulmate

The crowd cheered as they song ended, like they had in one of Ricki's dreams as a young woman, but of course she hadn't been called Ricki then, she was simply Linda Brummel, a housewife from Indianapolis raising her three small children. She should have been happy in the 'prime' of her life, she had a beautiful house, a husband and three beautiful kids but being a kept woman was just not for her, a problem which later lead to the end of her marriage to Pete.

"Everyone's entitled to be moody Ricki, but you...well you really do abuse the privilege" Greg appeared on a stool beside Ricki at what would usually be a quiet bar.

"Excuse me?" Ricki rolled her eyes as she downed the rest of her drink "Greg, don't piss me off" she shook her head and closed her eyes as the strong liquid hit the back of her throat "I'm running out of places to hide the bodies" she giggled in her half drunken state, looking over the bar at Daniel who couldn't help but laugh with her.

Ignoring Greg's presence, Ricki ordered another drink and made herself comfortable on the small bar stool.

"Ricki"

"Oh...are you still here?" she muttered into her vodka and tonic.

"Unbelievable" Greg angrily pushed himself away from the bar and headed towards the door.

"How to lose a guy in twenty seconds" Daniel stared wide eyed at Ricki.

"He'll come back, he always does" Ricki muttered as she took a large gulp of her drink.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Nope" Ricki set her drink down and pinched her nose.

Downing the rest of her drink, Ricki passed the empty glass to Daniel for a refill.

"I had a guy in earlier looking for you" Daniel turned round and placed the full glass on top of a white coaster.

"Mmm?" Ricki near chocked on her drink.

"Yeah. He was looking to wait in your dressing room" Daniel chuckled.

"Dressing room" Ricki giggled "with what I'm getting paid, I'm lucky to have a bedroom"

"I laughed in his face and he seemed to wonder away" Daniel softly smiled as he got himself a drink "he said his name was Pete, I think"

"Oh god" Ricki muttered with a swift roll her eyes "that's all I need, bloody father of the year on my back"

"Wait a minute" Daniel slammed his glass on to the bar "Pete...that wasn't Pete your ex, was it?!"

"The one and only" Ricki nodded.

"I thought he was in Indianapolis?"

"So did I" Ricki responded with a roll of her eyes.

"So how are...you two" Daniel asked after a minutes silence.

"Well let's just say...I thought he was my night in shining armour but he turned out to be a tedious workaholic in aluminium foil" Ricki raised an eyebrow over her glass "we were supposed to grow old together but we grew old apart. Sometimes when I'm lonely I just think back to our marriage and the time we had together and suddenly being alone doesn't feel so bad anymore"

"You make it sound like I'm dead" chuckled Pete.

New story ~ comments and votes are appreciated xx


	2. Chapter 2

"Pete"

"Linda"

'Linda?' Daniel silently mouthed to Ricki with a chuckle.

"Ricki" Ricki corrected him "So are you going to tell me why your here or just stand there all night like a grovelling pollock"

"I'm not here to 'grovel'" Pete sighed "your the one that left your family, not me"

"Well you've tracked me down so your obviously here for something" Ricki gulped down the rest of her drink.

"Julie knew your address"

"I gave her my address so she could contact me so unless this is something to do with the kids you can forget it" Ricki muttered after a short silence.

"What makes you think this has nothing to do with the kids?" Pete asked.

"A lot of things" Ricki smirked, about to order another drink until she realised that Daniel had read her mind. "Until you called me I couldn't remember the last time I wanted someone's fingers to break so badly" her and Daniel chuckled "despite what you think, my kids mean the world to me so I gathered up all the money I could and flew over to you; I only realised when I got there that things hadn't moved on since I'd left. Maureen had been moved in my place but nothing had changed"

"What do you mean?" Pete moved to take a seat beside Ricki before thinking better of it.

"What I mean is that my kids were still crying out for their mother and you...well you were too" Ricki gulped her beer. Daniel looked at her with raised eyebrows but he knew from Pete's lack of shock that it was true.

"I don't have time for this" Pete sighed after a considerably long silence, rubbing his hand through his hair as he spun his phone around in his hand.

"You never did" Ricki smirked as she placed the colourful straw into her mouth.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You never had time for anything Pete, or for anyone" she muttered "like I said; things don't change, people don't change"

"Well you did " Ricki raised an eyebrow at Pete's sharp reply, she managed to squeeze in a sarcastic eye roll before he continued with his sentence "your certainly not the woman I married"

"No Pete. I am the woman you married. You thought that I'd have the kids and eventually have no choice but to be a 'kept woman' and settle down" Ricki explained with a slight chuckle.

"And I was wrong"

"You couldn't have been more wrong" Ricki ignored his deep stares as she stirred her cocktail with the plastic straw. "Now...if you would excuse me" Ricki left the empty cocktail glass on the wooden bar as she made her way around the corner and into the lady's bathrooms. Pete's eyes followed her; ten seconds later he decided it was safe enough to sit down at the bar and order a drink.

It was around ten before Ricki finally arrived home. Sliding out a small bathroom window was never easy but there's some things you've just got to do. Hopefully Pete would take the hint and go back 'home'; she tended to treat him like a stray animal, if you feed it and give it what it wants, it'll just keep coming back. In Ricki's case it would keep coming back to haunt her. With the wedding, Ricki had gave Pete more attention in five hours than she had in twenty years, she should've expected a call from him. A personal visit was going way too far.

A man clearing his throat brought Ricki out of her thoughts. Spinning around she realised it was Greg. Her mouth opened to apologise for her behaviour earlier but she forced it closed again when she noted the black bag he was carrying. Without saying a word, he walked forward and dropped a small gold key into the palm of her hand.

"I'm off" he declared as his hand outstretched to the door handle.

"What?" Ricki chuckled.

"It's been a great 'run' Ricki..." he near laughed at her shock "...but even I deserve more respect than you give me. When we're alone we can kiss, make up and climb back under the duvet as much as we want but even that's not going to fix our problems"

Ricki looked him up and down, her face unreadable "under the duvet?" She raised an eyebrow "once against the fridge doesn't count" she chuckled as she turned around and grabbed the door handle; turning back around her face immediate went blank as she held the small door open for him.

"No goodbye?" He muttered "just a cold look and a few insults?"

"I'll see you tomorrow at the club...and as for that goodbye...I had nothing, I have nothing...what is there to say goodbye to?" Her eyes coldly stared into his.

Greg let a small chuckle escape his lips as he walked out the door and turned to face her, he knew she'd never change. "Ricki, you can't say that you've absolutely nothing; after all you have inferiority, well at least from your kids point of view"

She patted her lips to fire back a cold reply but instead found her hand slamming the door in his face. She lay against it for a few minutes, the coldness of the door shot through her head. A hot bath and large glass of wine was exactly what she needed.

Ricki was quick to discard her black laced up boots beside the door; she walked bare foot down the hallway, not in the mood for her normal singsong.

She jolted a few steps backward and near tripped over a towel when a hand lightly brushed off her arm.

"Pete" she squealed before bringing her hands up to cover her mouth "what the hell are you doing in my house?...my bedroom?"

Ricki brought her hand to her face as thoughts of Greg bumping into Pete filled her head. "I wait for a man all my life then suddenly two decide to hide in my house on the same night" she muttered as she brushed her hair to the side "two men?" she questioned herself with a small giggle "I'll change that to males" she smirked.

Pete didn't even seem to be fazed by the insult "against the fridge?" He asked.

Ricki moved her hand over her mouth. Had he really been there to hear all that? Of course he had.

"No, I'm just surprised...you know...that you can still do THAT" Pete shifted slightly, his hands in his pockets.

Ricki opened her mouth to say something but instead raised an eyebrow "I'm younger than you Pete"

Pete glanced up, his face unreadable.

"Oh god" she muttered. Turning on the spot, Ricki covered her face with her hands and strode down the small hallway. Pete followed.


End file.
